Paper Session I-A - An Interstellar Exploration Initiative for Future Flight

An example is presented of a Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) that would maintain the rapid rate of aerospace progress we accomplished in the past and culminate in journeys to the stars. Such an SEI would embody extremely long-term goals that: challenge the human spirit, meet human needs and set forth our intention to embark upon a manned interstellar journey within 100 years after the first human exploration of another celestial body (the moon). Near term goals would be the same as current SEI ones (establishment of Space Station Freedom , return to the moon, and manned exploration of Mars) because they are the next logical stepping stones to the stars. The paper shows prospects for the kinds of future technical breakthroughs which would maintain the rapid rate of aerospace progress of our past and how such breakthroughs might phase into SEI architectures during coining years. Finally, it is shown that an SEI that embodies an interstellar initiative would not significantly impact current spaceflight initiatives and plans. However, it would require that a greater fraction of space exploration funding be dedicated towards farout research for future flight